Editor:
We’re a National Guard family, so we don’t move quite as much as the active-duty Army family does.
Having never been to Fort Leavenworth before, if you had asked me or my family six months ago how we felt about relocating from Atlanta to here, you would have probably heard some harsh words uttered. It wouldn’t have been anything about the people, but about the location and the weather. Even with the wealth of information available to us on the Internet, our minds were made up that Kansas was in the middle of nowhere and was synonymous with the terms “tornado” and “snow storm.”
Arriving late in the evening on New Year’s Eve this past year, we gazed upon Fort Leavenworth’s landscape and were in awe to see the blanket of snow and ice everywhere. It was in stark contrast to the 70-degree weather and green grass we had left in Georgia only just a few days earlier. There was so much snow and ice accumulated around our new home that we couldn’t even find a place to park the car.
The next day marked the beginning our new adventures and my first experiences with a snow shovel and rock salt. My wife spent most of the day calling friends and family back home and informing them that Kansas had welcomed us properly with minus-15-degree weather and three feet of snow. For the record, it was only about 12 inches, but being “warm climate people” such as we are and hailing from a part of the country where two inches of snow literally shuts everything down, it might as well have been three feet of snow.
Slowly, though, we learned to muddle through. We managed to figure out how to drive in the snow and cope with the weather. As a bonus, my daughter and I even enjoyed learning how to make snowmen and discovered the thrills of sledding.
Eventually, the weather began to warm up and the snow slowly melted away, and a new landscape began to emerge. It almost seemed like Fort Leavenworth had been in hibernation. We began meeting all our neighbors, kids started playing outside and the trees all over post came into full bloom. The people here are so unapologetically friendly and accommodating — neighbors, and really the post as a whole, truly do go out of their way to get to know you and help in any way they can.
I’m reminded here about the 4th of July celebration on Fort Leavenworth. The day was spent by Merritt Lake enjoying good music, food and activities for the entire family. And despite the rain that ensued later in the evening, there was a fireworks display that was truly inspiring. What we also remember are all the nice people we met and the army of volunteers who made the event happen.
The really great thing is that the post makes this happen all the time, not just the 4th of July. We have truly found ourselves in a community that truly feels like an old fashioned neighborhood.
We will only be here for a few more months and are looking forward to the slow and colorful months of the fall to close out our adventure. We will miss the four seasons, the wonderful people and amazing experiences in the best hometown in the Army.
Thank you, Fort Leavenworth!
The Poole Family
Fort Leavenworth
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Editor:
We’re a National Guard family, so we don’t move quite as much as the active-duty Army family does.
Having never been to Fort Leavenworth before, if you had asked me or my family six months ago how we felt about relocating from Atlanta to here, you would have probably heard some harsh words uttered. It wouldn’t have been anything about the people, but about the location and the weather. Even with the wealth of information available to us on the Internet, our minds were made up that Kansas was in the middle of nowhere and was synonymous with the terms “tornado” and “snow storm.”
Arriving late in the evening on New Year’s Eve this past year, we gazed upon Fort Leavenworth’s landscape and were in awe to see the blanket of snow and ice everywhere. It was in stark contrast to the 70-degree weather and green grass we had left in Georgia only just a few days earlier. There was so much snow and ice accumulated around our new home that we couldn’t even find a place to park the car.
The next day marked the beginning our new adventures and my first experiences with a snow shovel and rock salt. My wife spent most of the day calling friends and family back home and informing them that Kansas had welcomed us properly with minus-15-degree weather and three feet of snow. For the record, it was only about 12 inches, but being “warm climate people” such as we are and hailing from a part of the country where two inches of snow literally shuts everything down, it might as well have been three feet of snow.
Slowly, though, we learned to muddle through. We managed to figure out how to drive in the snow and cope with the weather. As a bonus, my daughter and I even enjoyed learning how to make snowmen and discovered the thrills of sledding.
Eventually, the weather began to warm up and the snow slowly melted away, and a new landscape began to emerge. It almost seemed like Fort Leavenworth had been in hibernation. We began meeting all our neighbors, kids started playing outside and the trees all over post came into full bloom. The people here are so unapologetically friendly and accommodating — neighbors, and really the post as a whole, truly do go out of their way to get to know you and help in any way they can.
I’m reminded here about the 4th of July celebration on Fort Leavenworth. The day was spent by Merritt Lake enjoying good music, food and activities for the entire family. And despite the rain that ensued later in the evening, there was a fireworks display that was truly inspiring. What we also remember are all the nice people we met and the army of volunteers who made the event happen.
The really great thing is that the post makes this happen all the time, not just the 4th of July. We have truly found ourselves in a community that truly feels like an old fashioned neighborhood.
We will only be here for a few more months and are looking forward to the slow and colorful months of the fall to close out our adventure. We will miss the four seasons, the wonderful people and amazing experiences in the best hometown in the Army.
Thank you, Fort Leavenworth!
The Poole Family
Fort Leavenworth
